Rev. and Dear Sir,-I have often heard
that the Mormons claimed me for an auxiliary, but, as no one, until the present time, has ever requested from me any statement
in writing, I have not deemed it worth while to say anything publicly on the subject. What I do know of the sect, relates
to some of their early movements; and as the facts may amuse you, while they will furnish a satisfactory answer to the charge
of my being a Mormon proselyte, I proceed to lay them before you in detail.

Many years ago, the precise date I do
not now recollect, a plain looking countryman called upon me with a letter from Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, requesting me to examine,
and give my opinion upon, a certain paper, marked with various characters which the Doctor confessed he could not decypher,
and which the bearer of the note was very anxious to have explained. A very brief examination of the paper convinced me that
it was a mere hoax, and a very clumsy one too. The characters were arranged in columns, like the Chinese mode of writing,
and presented the most singular medley that I had ever beheld. Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of letters, more or less distorted,
either through unskilfulness or from actual design, were intermingled with sundry delineations of half moons, stars, and other
natural objects, and the whole ended in a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac. The conclusion was irresistible, that
some cunning fellow had prepared the paper in question, for the purpose of imposing upon the countryman who brought it, and
I told the man so without any hesitation. He then proceeded to give me the history of the whole affair, which convinced me
that he had fallen into the hands of some sharper, while it left me in great astonishment at his own simplicity.

The countryman told me, that a gold
book had recently been dug up in the western of [or] northern part (I forget which,) of our State, and he described this book
as consisting of many gold plates, like leaves, secured by a gold wire passing through the edge of each, just as the leaves
of a book are sewed together, and presenting in this way the appearance of a volume. Each plate, according to him, was inscribed
with unknown characters, and the paper which he had handed me, was, as he assured me, a transcript of one of these pages.
On my asking him by whom the copy was made, he gravely stated, that along with the golden book there had been dug up a very
large pair of spectacles! so large in fact, that if a man were to hold them in front of his face, his two eyes would merely
look through one of the glasses, and the remaining part of the spectacles would project a considerable distance sideways!
These spectacles possessed, it seems, the very valuable property, of enabling any one who looked through them, (or rather
through one of the lenses,) not only to decypher the characters on the plates, but also to comprehend their exact meaning,
and to be able to translate them! My informant assured me, that this curious property of the spectacles had been placed in
the garret of a farm-house, with a curtain before him, and, having fastened the spectacles to his head, had read several pages
in the golden book, and communicated their contents in writing to certain persons stationed on the outside of the curtain.
He had also copied off one page of the book in the original character, which he had in like manner handed over to those who
were separated from him by the curtain, and this copy was the paper which the countryman had brought with him. As the golden
book was said to contain very great truths, and most important revelations of religious nature, a strong desire had been expressed
by several persons in the countryman's neighbourhood, to have the whole work translated and published. A proposition had accordingly
been made to my informant, to sell his farm and apply the proceeds to the printing of the golden book, and the golden plates
were to be left with him as security until he should be reimbursed by the sale of the work. To convince him the more clearly
that there was no risk, whatever in the matter, and that the work was actually what it claimed to be, he was told to take
the paper, which purported to be a copy of one of the pages of the book, to the city of New York, and submit it to the learned
in that quarter, who would soon dispel all his doubts, and satisfy him as to the perfect safety of the investment. As Dr.
Samuel L. Mitchell was our "Magnus Apollo" in those days, the man called first upon him; but the Doctor, evidently suspecting
some trick, declined giving any opinion about the matter, and sent the coutnryman down to the college, to see, in all probability,
what the "learned pundits" in that place would make of the affair. On my telling the bearer of the paper that an attempt had
been made to impose upon him, and defraud him of his property, he requested me to give him my opinion in writing about the
paper which he had shown to me. I did so without any hesitation, partly for the man's sake, and partly to let the individual
"behind the curtain" see that his trick was discovered. The import of what I wrote was, as far as I can now recollect, simply
this, that the marks in the paper appeared to be merely an imitation of various alphabetic characers, and had in my opinion
no meaning at all connected with them. The coutnryman then took his leave, with many thanks, and with the express declaration
that he would in no shape part with his farm or embark in the speculation of printing the golden book.

The matter rested here for a considerable
time, until one day, when I had ceased entirely to think of the countryman and his paper, this same individual, to my great
surprise, paid me a second visit. He now brought with him a duodecimo volume, which he said was a translation into English
of the "Golden Bible." He also stated, that, notwithstanding his original determination, he had been induced eventually to
sell his farm, and apply the money to the publication of the book, and had received the golden plates as a security for repayment.
He begged my acceptance of the volume, assuring me that it would be found extremely interesting, and that it was already "making
a great noise" in the upper part of the State. Suspecting, now, that some serious trick was on foot, and that my plain-looking
visitor might be in fact a very cunning fellow, I declined his present, and merely contented myself with a slight examination
of the volume which he stood by. The more I declined receiving it, however, the more urgent the man became in offering the
book, until at last I told him plainly, that if he left the volume, as he said he intended to do, I should most assuredly
throw it after him as he departed. I then asked him how he could be so foolish as to sell his farm and engage in this affair;
and requested him to tell me if the plates were really of gold. In answer to this latter enquiry, he said, that he had never
seen the plates themselves, which were carefully locked up in a trunk, but that he had the trunk in his possession. I advised
him by all means to open the trunk and examine its contents, and if the plates proved to be of gold, which I did not believe
at all, to sell them immediately. His reply was, that if he opened the trunk the "curse of Heaven would descened upon him
and his children." "However," added he, "I will agree to open it, provided you will take the 'curse of Heaven' upon yourself,
for having advised me to the step." I told him I was perfectly willing to do so, and begged him to hasten home and examine
the trunk, for he would find he had been cheated. He promised to do as I recommended, and left me taking his book with him.
I have never seen him since.

Such is a plain statement of all that
I know respecting the Mormons. My impression now is, that the plain-looking countryman was none other than the prophet Smith
himself, who assumed an appearance of greater simplicity in order to entrap me, if possible, into some recommendation of his
book. That the prophet aided me, by his inspiration, in interpreting the volume, is only one of the many amusing falsehoods
which the Mormonites utter relative to my participation in their doctrines. Of these doctrines I know nothing whatever, nor
have I ever heard a single discourse from any one of their preachers, although I have often felt a strong curiosity to become
an auditor, since my friends tell me that they frequently name me in their sermons, and even go so far as to say that I am
alluded to in the prophecies of Scripture!

If what I have here written shall prove
of any service in opening the eyes of some of their deluded followers to the real designs of those who profess to be apostles
of Mormonism, it will afford me a satisfaction equalled, I have no doubt, only by that which you yourself will fell on this
subject.